Plarn: How to Make Something Useful from That Crazy Stash of Plastic Grocery Bags

I try to avoid plastic grocery bags like the plague.  However, no matter how hard I try, they seem to find their way into my home.  Just last week, my kids got a care package from their grandmother packed full of goodies- and as a great way of recycling her plastic bags, she cushioned the contents of the box with about 500 grocery bags.  It was seriously like a magic trick, they just kept coming out of that box.  While I am very glad she found a use for her stash of annoying plastic bags,  I now have an overabundance of them and need to do something about it.

That is why I am posting this tutorial on how to make plarn (the accepted term for plastic bags made into yarn, it would seem).  While I could just save the bags and pay them forward as packing material for my Christmas packages that need to go out soon, I want to do something a little more permanent and perhaps a little more useful.  My plan for my stash of plastic obscenity is to make durable, reusable shopping bags out of them.  My great grandmother used to this, and the bags you can knit from "yarn" made from plastic bags are very durable and super functional. I have also seen people make little house shoes, shower mats, coasters...I think you are only limited by your imagination on this one.  And perhaps heat.  Don't make a pot holder out of plarn, please.    

1.  Collect plastic grocery bags.  About 30 is a good number if you want to make a reusable shopping tote.  But it all depends on the size of your plastic bags and their condition as well as the size of the tote you wish to make.  Please still use the bags with holes in them, usually you can get a lot out of those bags even though they are damaged.  You will see why as we go along. (You will also need a pair of scissors.)

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2.  Choose one of your bags and flatten it on your work surface as I have shown in the picture.  Orient the bag so the handles are pointing away from you and then fold the bag in half vertically.   

3. Next, turn the bag so that the folded edge is nearest to you.  Think of it as putting your bag in a "landscape" orientation opposed to "portrait."  Then, you will remove the handles and bottom of your bag by taking your scissors and cutting the left and right sides of your folded bag.  When cutting the side with the handles, you want to make sure you cut far enough down that none of the handle loop remains on your bag. You should have a nice, solid rectangle.  (Keep it folded.)

4.  With the folded edge still closest to you, cut the remainder of the bag into approximately 1 inch vertical strips.  You do not need to stress yourself on making each strip exactly the same size- as long as they are about the same width, you will never know the difference.

5.  Take these strips you have made and open them up; they should be loops.  

6.  Now, all you need to do is join these loops together.  Take two of the loops you have created.  Close one of the loops and thread it through the opening of the other loop.  Do not thread it all the way through, but stop once you have about 1/4 to 1/2 of the closed loop through the open loop.  Put your hand through the portion of loop you have just threaded and then pick up the "tail" of that same loop that you left behind.  Draw your hand backward, with the tail still grasped, so that you feed the tail through the threaded loop. Pull both plastic loops in opposite directions to secure the not.  Don't pull so tight that you rip your plastic. 

7.  You will now repeat step 6, only use the last bag in your already created chain as the "open loop" for the next chain.  Continue doing this until you have the length of plarn needed for your project.  I like to ball mine up as I go so I don't feel like I'm drowning in plastic loops.  If you run out of loops and need more plarn, just cut more plastic bags.  If you have different color bags, with a little planning you can make color runs in your plarn...or even self-striping plarn.  Sometimes if you have a ton of bags from the same store that are all the same color, the result can look a little like a speckled plarn.  Once you have enough, though, pick up those needles or hook and have some fun.